The face of the interior design industry is ever-changing, what with the arrivals and departures of key people in manufacturing and retail, marketing and publishing, interior design and architecture, and industry organizations and design centers. Editor at Large is keeping tabs on the industry’s revolving door in this monthly column.
Media/PR
Sophie Donelson began her role as Editor in Chief of House Beautiful magazine on Feb. 2. She has taken the reigns from Newell Turner who will remain the Editorial Director of the Hearst Design Group. Donelson has deep roots in the design industry and has previously worked at Cottages & Gardens, Elle Décor, Editor at Large and C. Wonder.
In addition, House Beautiful has named Chef John Besh as its 2015 Food Contributor.
Shax Riegler has left his post as Executive Editor at House Beautiful and is now the Content Development Team Leader, Home & Appliances for Consumer Reports.
Amy Preiser stepped down from her role as Senior Digital Editor for the Hearst Design Group, and after doing some freelance writing for a few months, she joined Cricket Circle.
Arianne Nardo, who was most recently the Editor in Chief of Interiors Magazine, has joined The Robb Report as Executive Editor, Home & Style.
Sarah Firshein has started a new job at Travel + Leisure as its Digital Director. She was formerly the Digital Editor of the Wall Street Journal's "Off Duty" and "Personal Journal" and prior to that, she was the Founding Editor of Curbed National.
In addition, Travel + Leisure has hired Amy Schellenabum as Digital Editor, who recently stepped down from her role as Editor at Curbed National.
Brielle M. Ferreira has joined the Luxe Interiors + Design team as Senior Editor, a new position based on the growth of the brand. Ferreira will write and produce the magazine's “Kitchen + Bath,” “The Insiders” and new “The Report” departments. Additionally, she will manage two associate editors, who will write and produce the brand’s “Scene” department, among other editorial responsibilities. Ferreira will be working on all of the editions of Luxe, on both national and regional edit.
Longtime Interior Design magazine President and Publisher Mark Strauss has become President Emeritus of the brand. As part of this transition, Strauss will launch a separate entity, Design Ventures, which will develop and execute initiatives, in partnership with SANDOW.
Carol Cisco, who has been at Interior Design for over 15 years, most recently as Associate Publisher, has been named Publisher, and will manage the brand’s day-to-day advertising and business operations.
In addition, longtime Editor in Chief of Interior Design magazine Cindy Allen has been named Chief Design Officer of the magazine's parent company, SANDOW.
Former Editor in Chief of Country Living Sarah Gray Miller has been hired by Modern Farmer to oversee its operations on an interim basis.
Angela Jett Okenica is the new Home & Beauty Director for Departures. She was previously the Advertising Manager at VERANDA.
Manufacturing/Retail
Chaddock has named Dan Bradley as its new CEO. Bradley has had a distinguished career in the furniture industry, including time as President of Chaddock in 2007 and more recently as President of Baker, Group President of Furniture Brands’ designer brands (Henredon, Maitland Smith, Hickory Chair, Lane Venture and Pearson) and, most recently, as Senior VP of operations at Ethan Allen.
Sharon Bickle has retired from her post as Vice President of Showrooms for Fabricut. Her replacement has yet to be announced.
Laine Alexandra, previously the Visual Merchandising Director at Donghia, is now at Tai Ping as its Business Development Director.
Jim Bindman has been appointed VP of Sales of the Arteriors contract division. Ben Howard will hold the position of National Sales Manager of lighting for Arteriors and Kevin Reilly will take on the role of International Sales Manager.
Mark Skerik, former Marketing Director of KnollStudio, will be the new President at Edelman Leather. Skerik will relocate to work at Edelman Leather’s headquarters in New Milford, Connecticut.
Highland House announced that Nathan Copeland has joined the company as the new President. He comes to Highland House from Heritage Home Group, where he had been VP of Sales for Hickory Chair and Pearson.
Theodore Alexander has named longtime industry product specialist Phillip Siler Senior Vice President of product development, a new position. Siler was most recently with Lacquer Craft, where he spent the past eight years as VP of Sales and Marketing.
Edward Phifer III, a Chairman and one of three founding members of E.J. Victor, has retired from the company after more than 25 years of service. His replacement has yet to be announced.
E.J. Victor has also named Caroline Avery Director of Marketing. She replaces Erika Bebow, who left the company to pursue a sales position with retail software provider MicroD.
Wayfair has named former food industry executive Bob Gamgort to its Board of Directors. Gamgort will advise the board, bringing his expertise in the consumer products industry. Most recently, he was CEO of Pinnacle Foods.
Andrew Yang will be moving on from his executive role at Roll & Hill (he is a founding member) to pursue new ventures. He is currently a partner/investor in Mission Chinese Food in New York.
Configura, maker of CET Designer software, has promoted Tracy Lanning to Vice President of Global Customer Experience. In addition Brooke Snow was promoted to Business Development Manager.
Greg Colando has joined the Fireclay Tile board. The founder of Interface’s FLOR division, he spent 13 years as its president, leading the brand’s success in both the consumer and commercial design space.
Natalie Borten has joined Dauphin as Designer/Showroom Manager at its New York City showroom. Previously, she has held positions as Manager/Designer at a tile showroom and worked at the interior design studio at ABC Home as a freelancer.
Emerald Home Furnishings named Michelle Bettencourt as Director of Business Development, a new position. Bettencourt has worked in the industry since 1996 in a variety of roles, including Retail Store Manager, District Manager, buyer, multi-store owner and Associate Sales Representative for Ashley Furniture. She most recently has been an Inside Sales Representative for Emerald.
Interior Designers/Architects
Oakland-based architecture and design firm Arcsine has hired a new Senior Architect, Jason Jones. He was previously a project architect at Gensler and brings more than 20 years of experience working on large-scale commercial projects to the team.
Francois Frossard Design has teamed up with Palace Resorts Worldwide. Interior designer/architect Francois Frossard has been appointed Executive Interior Designer of the five-star, all-inclusive resort company.
Architecture firm FXFOWLE has promoted eight of its architects to Senior Associates and 11 of its architects to Associates. Ken Brown, Stephen Kim, Alex Pollock, Michael Buesing, Brien McDaniel, Scott Melching, Bill Doherty and Sarah Gerber are now Senior Associates and Sisto Tallini, Luis Bustamante, David Black, Alissa Countryman, Bill Chalkley, Sabrina Pagani, Pascale Sablan, Jim Bushong, Shannon Rodriguez, Erin Crowe and Toby Snyder are now Associates.
Architect Jeffrey M. Young is Perkins Eastman’s new Associate Principal. Young will bring insights from his 18 years of experience across a range of building types to the firm.
Dattner Architects has promoted Sara Agrest, Steven Frankel, Douglas Freeman and Eric Epstien to Senior Associate and Associate roles at the firm.
Ranko Kume has recently transitioned into the role of Head of Office for M Moser in Kuala Lumpur. M Moser Kuala Lumpur’s previous Head of Office, Adrian Symons, is now in the global role of Director—International Projects.
Kristin Miner has been promoted to VP of Design at Creative Office Pavilion. Previously, she was the Director of Design. Prior to her employment at Creative Office Pavilion, she held the position of Director of Design at MDS/Miller Dyer Spears, and Associate at ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge.
Miscellaneous
Ambra Medda is a new addition to the team at Christie’s and is taking on a new role as Creative Director for the of 20/21 Design Department. Most recently, Medda was an executive at the Design Miami trade show, which she co-founded.
International Market Centers (IMC) announced a series of management changes across various departments within the company. Julie Messner has been promoted to Senior VP for Furniture Leasing—High Point and Karen Olson has been promoted to Senior VP of Marketing. Additional changes at the management level include the promotions of Philip Knott to VP of Operations Services; Renae Brown to Director of Strategy; Cassie Catania-Hsu to Leasing Director, Gift + Home; and Andy Maiden to Director of Internal Communications.
Suzanne Tron has joined The Viscusi Group as VP, Residential, and Luxury Home & Architectural Building Products. Most recently, Tron was executive publisher of Metropolis Magazine.
Kyler Queen, who was most recently the Creative Strategist and Managing Director of Marketing Communications at the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), has joined Perkins+Will as a Knowledge Manager in their Chicago office.
Perkins Eastman Principal and Executive Director Alan M. Schlossberg has been elected the 2015 President of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Schlossberg served as Vice President in 2014 alongside outgoing President Jen Bee.
Lighting by Gregory's Chief Lighting Designer Clifford Starr was recently elected the new Chapter President of the Designers Lighting Forum of New York (DLFNY). Starr’s appointment comes after serving as Vice President for two years and a DLFNY board member for five years.
The Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) Board of Directors elected Pamela K. Evans as the 2015 Board Chair. Evans is the Director of Interior Design at Kent State University and serves as the accredited program representative on the CIDA Board. Jan Johnson, VP of Design and Workplace Resources at Allsteel, was elected Secretary-Treasurer.
Hospitality designer Adam D. Tihany was recently named to the Pratt Institute's Board of Trustees.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation has hired Ann Looper Pryo, who will join the organization as its first COO. Pryor will be responsible for managing internal operations, finances, revenue development, external relations and increasing the visibility of TCLF’s programs, among other duties.
